City needs a Planned Parenthood office

Letter to the editor

Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2006

It seems that another battle of morals has begun in our fair capital, and Planned Parenthood is the target. The term "target" is used as it seems to be the focus of what is usually one of the few repeated topics argued in this section of our city's newspaper.

A choice can be made whether or not to accept services from Planned Parenthood - be it from an educational perspective, whether or not to engage in a physical relationship with another person or the possible end result of that relationship. There are also options that one can be educated on for an unexpected pregnancy.

I highly doubt that the second a young, expectant parent walks through the door he/she is pounced upon by a medical provider ready to perform an abortion. This organization is most certainly not implying that anyone should engage in a physical relationship. What they are promoting is information and education that coincide with these decisions, as well as the responsibility and end result of that decision.

The city of Juneau needs a Planned Parenthood office. We, as parents, may have done the best we could at educating our children on these issues. They will either talk to us about this or they won't.

The fact is someone has to be there to assist our young people if they can't or won't come to us, or if they have no one to go to at all. I hope my strongest hopes that my children can be open and honest with myself and their father when that day comes, and it will. But they might not. Then what? They venture into something unsure of themselves, maybe contract a sexually transmitted disease, or even worse, end up as a 14-year-old parent?